They Got Me Covered Reviews

Without the talent of Bob Hope this picture would be one dull thud. It has very forced situations, a yarn that makes absolutely no sense, and not much acting from the other members of the cast. But Hope is magnificent as a WW II war correspondent fired for forgetting to announce that Hitler has invaded Russia. He then goes about trying to prove himself a worthy reporter by uncovering a Nazi spy ring. And the way he goes about doing so is quite bizarre to say the least, taking him from impersonations of Veronica Lake to posing as a wax mannequin, and a few other things that only Hope can do without looking totally ridiculous. The film--its title was the same as that of Hope's paperback biography, a best-seller at three million copies--represented a change of pace for producer Goldwyn, who had previously specialized in romantic dramas. Basically a remake of 1942's MY FAVORITE BLONDE, a box-office smash, it was directed by Butler, who had previously directed Hope and Lamour--with Bing Crosby--in one of the best of the "Road" series pictures, THE ROAD TO MOROCCO (1942). In-gags abound in the film; Crosby was brought into it off-camera, singing his classic theme, "Where the Blue of the Night Meets the Gold of the Day," every time Hope opens his musical cigarette case. Preminger, in his second year of portraying Nazis in Hollywood, proves himself capable on either side of the camera in his role as the chief of the bad guys. Singer Doris Day, later a star, has an early bit part, as does Diana Lynn, in one of the first films in which she used that screen pseudonym. (She'd used her real name, Dolly Loehr, for earlier bits.)